


Ben's afternoon

by TheyLetMeUseTheKeyboard



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben Vs. A Bookshelf, Ben is a bean, Ben is a lil short bean and we leave him for it, Ben loves books, Five hasn't yeeted himself to the future yet, Fluff, Gen, The Hargreeves being good siblings, The ending ended up a lil rushed but shhhhhhh, What happens when Klaus and Ben function on one communal brain cell, it was klaus's turn with the brain cell, please feel free to leave constructive criticism, the author is struggling, the kids are about 12 or 13
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 20:37:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18059639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheyLetMeUseTheKeyboard/pseuds/TheyLetMeUseTheKeyboard
Summary: All Ben Hargreeves wanted was to have a nice afternoon reading Harry Potter, but the universe doesn't seem to want that for him.Or...Ben finds himself in a catastrophic situation involving books and blankets after attempting to reach the top shelf, but his siblings are there to help him and maybe even salvage his afternoon.





	Ben's afternoon

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeeeello. Thank you so much for reading. This is technically the 2nd fic I've ever posted, but hopefully the first I won't delete within 24 hours, lol. I hope you guys enjoy! I didn't really have a plan when I wrote this, but I think it turned out okay. Is it fluffly? Ye. Is it border line Crack at some points? Ye. Is Ben a bean? ye.

Ben flopped down on his soft, comfortable bed. There was a smile budding on his face as he peeled off his mask, doing a little shimmy akin to a celebration dance. Ben was on a cloud nine, because today the unimaginable happened. Reginald Hargreeves, Ben’s “father,” had given the inhabitants of his academy the afternoon off. No more training for the day. No more of Ben digging his nails into his palms to maintain the control required to summon the eldritch over and over. No, this afternoon Ben was going to spend some quality time doing what he loves most, reading. Ben jumped from his bed, beaming with giddy excitement as he thought of the possibilities. All the worlds he could escape to and lose himself in. The people sewn into ink and paper he could meet. Ah, this day was going to be awesome. The boy had thought about asking his siblings if any of them wanted to join him, but quickly shied away from the idea. They all probably had better things to do then “waste” their time on story books, as Diego had once proclaimed angrily to Ben when the latter had eaten the last of moms special cookies. Sure, Diego had apologized, but Ben would be lying if he said it didn’t still sting.

Not happy with the sad turn his thoughts were taking, Ben quickly refocused his attention on the task of choosing a book. With a wide smile, Ben skimmed his overflowing bookshelf before settling his eyes on the top self where "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" sat. Ben's smile grew. Maybe it was a bit below his reading level, but Harry Potter never failed to immerse him in its world of potions and magic. Reaching up on his tippy toes, Ben began attempting to snatch the book. He stretched as best as he could while grabbing at the book, but to no avail. Slumping down in frustration, Ben brainstormed a different approach. A few moments later he brightened up, struck with the idea to attempt jumping for the book. Alas, no matter how many times Ben jumped, he came back empty handed. Blushing furiously, Ben began to desperately trying to reach for the book. This . Was . So. Embarrassing. Briefly the thought of using the tentacles of the Eldritch to reach the book crossed Ben’s mind, but he decided against it. Ben let out a frustrating sigh before resuming his futile attempts to reach the book. Oh god, Ben couldn’t even imagine one of his sibling walking in on his struggle. If it was Klaus, Ben would be fine. Klaus would laugh, and roll on the floor and be over dramatic. But then he’d get up, and he’d give Ben one of his warm, full faced smiles before reaching up and retrieving the book. And Vanya, she wouldn’t poke fun at him. She’d give him a awkward, nervous smile, and then offer to help in a shy voice. Ben smiled as he thought of, who he considered to be, the two kindest of his sibling. Now that he thought about it, Allison probably wouldn’t be to bad either. She’d giggle, but then confidently strut into his room and grab the book, handing it to him with a smile before turning to leave.

Ben shook himself out of his thoughts. He had a task at hand. This bookshelf was not going win. For heaven's sake, he wasn’t even that short! Sure the rest of his siblings, minus maybe Vanya, had a couple of inches on him, but mom said it was just a matter of time before his growth spurt. More determined than ever, Ben set out to get that book and have a relaxing afternoon, god dang it. First, Ben laid his blankets and pillows out on the floor, because safety first. Next, he took his desk chair and placed it in front of the bookshelf and on top of his blankets. Happily, Ben climbed atop the chair, took a few moments to make sure it was secure, before reaching up and happily grabbing his prized book. Grinning from cheek to cheek over the fact his plan worked, Ben let out an uncharacteristic victory cry, banging his hand on the bookshelf as if to empathize his victory over it. However, his enthusiastic “HA-HA” quickly morphed into terrified yelp as Ben felt the chair begin to slip on the blankets.

 

Suddenly, Ben found himself on the floor, entangled with blankets and the many books his victory punch to the shelf seemed to bring with him. Before he could even process what had happened, Ben’s door was burst open. “BE GONE BURGLAR, WE’VE GOT POWERS AND WE AREN’T AFRAID TO USE THEM,” A distinctly Klaus like voice screamed out. Mortification began to fall over Ben as he angled his head towards the door. There stood all six of his siblings. Luther was at front, seemingly being the one who not only knocked open Ben’s door, but knocked it of its hinges. Right behind Luther was Klaus, holding his guitar up as if ready to smash a head with it. Diego had knives drawn, and Allison and Five stood in battle ready stances. Straining his head a little farther, Ben spied Vanya lingered in the back, face furrowed with worry. Awkwardly, Ben let out a quiet “I’m down here.” 

As if in slow motion, Ben felt all his siblings look down and fix their eyes on Bens helpless form, cocooned in a blanket burrito with books everywhere. Klaus was the first to react, howling in laughter as he put down his guitar just to bang on his knee. Ben felt heat rise to his cheek, suddenly willing the blankets to just swallow him whole. “What the hell man!” yelled Diego, making Ben wince. Ben averted his eyes down, only to look up when Allison warmly said “I think what Diego meant to say was that we were worried about you.” Diego bashfully rubbed the back of his neck, nodding his head. “This is so great, how on earth did you get into this mess Benny,” Klaus joked as he wiped the tears formed in his eyes from laughing too hard. Before Ben could answer Five suddenly spoke up, stating “We should help him get out of these fickle predicament before we interrogate him, genius.” “Please,” Ben squeaked out, sighing in relief at the postponement of his further embarrassment. Reacting first, Luther cleared his throat, rolled up his sleeves and started by picking up Ben's desk chair. Quickly, the rest of the siblings joined him, moving books off Ben whispering words of encouragement, promising freedom from the books and blankets in no time. After about 15 minutes, the sibling were able to completely uncover their brother. 

Diego grabbed Ben’s hand too pull him up while Klaus begin to tug at the blankets tangled around Ben's body. Once he was completely set free, Ben and the rest of his siblings slumped down with a sigh of exhaustion, falling into silence. After a few moments taken to build up courage, Ben spoke, saying “Thanks guys, for you know…” “Helping you out of book hell?” joked Diego. Ben let out a soft giggle before replying “Yeah...I’m really sorry for making you guys think something bad happened. I-.” “Nope” Allison interrupted, “don’t apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong Ben. We all end up in these situations sometimes.” ‘Y-Yeah it was r-really no trouble, we’re glad we w-were able to help” assured Vanya with a smile, the rest of the siblings nodding in agreement. Ben blushed, smiling as he looked at his siblings. “Thanks guys, it means a lot to know you care.” Suddenly Klaus’ arms were around Ben as the taller boy practically threw himself on smaller. “Aw of course we care. I’m sorry I laughed, it was just...so funny,” Klaus giggled. Ben looked at his brother, cracking a large smile before he too was laughing, managing to say in between giggles “Yeah I guess it was pretty funny.” Soon all the siblings were laughing to some extent, looking at each other with amused, happy expressions.

Once they simmered down, Luther commented “Wow Ben, I didn’t realize you had so many books.” Ben looked around his room at the piles of books formed by his siblings. “Yeah I guess I do,” Ben agreed, before frowning as a realization dawned on him. “And it's going to take so long to put them all away,” Ben sighed sadly as he thought of his wasted free afternoon. “No it won’t” exclaimed Klaus. Ben looked at his brother confused, and as if reading his mind Diego added on “Cause we’re going to help you, silly.” As these words clicked in his head, Ben smiled warily, asking “Are you guys sure you want to waste your free time on helping me?” Five spoke up this time, saying “It's not like there's anything more exciting happening in this house.” Ben grinned, his worries being set to rest, because he knew that was Fives own way of saying he was glad to help. Together, the siblings helped return Ben’s books to their proper places, reaching the top shelf for Ben when needed. By the end of the process, all of the siblings seemed to find a books that captured their interest and all bashfully asked Ben to borrow them. Ben, beaming, readily agreed, even invited his siblings to stay and read with him. So, curled up in blankets on Ben’s floor, the Hargreaves siblings lost themselves in the worlds of various books. At one point Ben put down his book to look at his siblings, all of whom were putting effort into understanding something he enjoys. A feeling a warmth grew in Ben’s chest and gut, and for once it wasn’t the Eldritch screaming to be released. Despite his struggles, Ben had gotten the afternoon he wanted, and because of his struggles he ended up not having to spend it alone.


End file.
